


Dutifully Prodigious

by allitalksfandom



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Strangers to Lovers, Summer Nagamas 2014
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-07-29 20:14:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16271525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allitalksfandom/pseuds/allitalksfandom
Summary: Prince Innes was in capable hands, but Lute needed her aid.





	Dutifully Prodigious

**Author's Note:**

> I found this draft of a fic for Summer Nagamas 2014. The draft is dated October 19, 2014. I plan to go through my messages in order to discover the name of its intended recipient. Enjoy!

            Vanessa was packing her belongings, Lute sitting on her bed, when Syrene knocked on the door.

            Vanessa glanced at Lute, who was absorbed in yet another book, before telling her older sister she could come in the room.

            “Good morning, Vanessa,” said Syrene. “And Lute,” she added, noticing the sage.

            Lute nodded her head in reply.

            “Would you like help packing?” asked Syrene.

            Vanessa shook her head. “No thank you, I have everything under control. What time did the prince say for you to meet him at the castle’s gate?”

            “He said that we should be ready by two.” She paused. “Vanessa…Do you remember the promise that you made me the night we arrived in this castle?”

            Darn it. “Yes, I do.”

            Syrene smiled. “Good. I’ll see you soon, then?”

            “Of course!” Vanessa hoped that her words did not sound forced.

            After Syrene left the room, Vanessa sighed and looked at Lute.

            Vanessa wasn’t sure what to expect when she brought Lute home with her. It wasn’t because Lute was a woman; the sisters knew plenty of their fellow knights had female lovers. Rather, it was because Lute was _Lute._

* * *

            During the battle at Za’ha Woods, Vanessa was too absorbed in battle to notice the newest recruit. It was not until afterword, when the group gathered for dinner, that she spotted the purple-haired girl for the first time.

            “Father Moulder, who is that?” she asked.

            He turned his head. “Her name is Lute. I believe she is a friend of Brother Artur’s.”

            The young woman’s eyes did not leave the tome she read.

* * *

            On the southern outskirts of Serafew, Lute approached Vanessa.

            Or rather, she had approached Titania.

            Their brief conversation was both enlightening and exhausting.

            Vanessa mentioned the encounter to Artur when she and the monk washed their clothes in a stream.

            He smiled. “That’s very much like her. I can never tell if she is joking or not…”

            Vanessa looked up from her shirt. “Really? Yet you’ve known each other since childhood…”

            “Lute’s…always been hard to read.” He placed his socks on a rock and held his palms over them, using his magic to dry them. “Eventually, you start to understand her quirks, though.”

* * *

             Vanessa glanced up at the sky, shivering as she saw an enemy struck by Lute’s lightning. _Even though I have to fear archers, at least Titania protects me from magic…_ With ballistae around, she wasn’t eager to be skybound.

            Princess Tana, however, seemed to have no such qualms. Achaeus landed on the ground, and the princess quickly dismounted. After taking a sip from her canteen, she turned to Vanessa. “Vanessa, you can go airborne now. We took the ballista for ourselves!”

            Vanessa frowned. “We have? But Neimi’s over there,” she said, turning to where the pink-haired girl sat applying a vulnerary.

            Tana grinned. “Who do you think?”

            “The prince,” Vanessa whispered. She was on Titania and in the air before Tana could respond.

* * *

            Despite the presence of Prince Innes, life didn’t change significantly for Vanessa. The army still fought battles and gradually advanced towards Jehanna. The only difference was that the Renais knight, Forde, had taken to following her around.

            She had sat down on a log to eat her dinner, and sure enough, here he was.

            “So, how about the rest of the pegasus knights? Are they sniper swooners, too?”

            Vanessa fought the urge to roll her eyes. “I never confirmed or denied anything, Forde.”

            He smiled. “Yeah, but I know a thing or two about falling for a stick-in-the-mud.”

            “Prince Innes is not a stick-in-the-mud!”

            He shrugged. “You said it, not me.”

* * *

            To Vanessa’s surprise, Lute approached her shortly before the army broke camp.

            “I had an illuminating talk with your liege, Titanessa.”

            Vanessa sighed. “Lute, I know that you know my name at this point. So why are you combining it with that of my Pegasus?”

            “Titanessa is the name of a literary heroine in a rather melodramatic romance saga that I read when I was eight.”

_Blast._ Vanessa could feel her face turning red.

            “I tried to convince Artur to read it, but to no avail. Ah well, I wasn’t overly fond of it anyway.”

            Vanessa changed the subject. “You said that you had spoken with my liege?”

            Lute nodded. “Yes. Prince Innes and I discussed battle tactics and other such topics. He does seem to be a very sharp man, though not as brilliant as me, of course.”

            “I see.”

            “In truth, I wanted to see if he knew more about a book I read concerning…”

            Try as she might, Vanessa was unable to focus on her words. Still, the sound of her voice was soothing.

* * *

            Vanessa dodged the enemy wyvernriders as she looked around at her companions. Prince Innes was aiming for an enemy archer who had their sights set on Princess Eirika. Lute stood back to back with Artur, facing down a pair of mercenaries.

            Throwing a javelin at the nearest foe, she did her best to ignore the others’ battles. However, she noticed that Forde was struggling. With another enemy on her tail, she urged Titania to where he fought a Grado paladin.

             “I appreciate the backup,” he said, grinning.

             Vanessa turned around to spot the wyvernrider dismounting his dragon and charging at her. Dismounting as well, she ducked and skewered him in the knee, but fell to the ground with her momentum.

             Meanwhile, Forde and his opponent had taken to fighting on foot. She turned her head slightly. Forde and his foe’s swords were locked together. The wyvernknight was immobilized. If she could just get up…

             Panting, she pushed up with her arms and lunged for the paladin’s feet. She missed, just as she counted on happening; the enemy became startled, and Forde gained the advantage.

_I know it’s war, but two against one isn’t very knightlike…_ She glanced around, seeing if anyone else needed backup. She saw Lute running towards her.

           “I’d duck if I were you,” said the sage breathlessly. She aimed a spell over Vanessa’s head.

           The wyvernrider was off the ground; he dodged her spell and stabbed her cape, pinning her to the ground.

           Lute dropped her tome.

           As she scrambled to pick it up and fire off another spell, her enemy dislodged his lance and pinned her arm.

           Vanessa rushed over, all thoughts of fairness forgotten, but Lute sent her opponent flying backward with a blast of lightning.

           The wyvernrider was knocked out cold, but if a healer arrived, he would probably live.

_Healer._ Vanessa looked over at Forde, who had finally disarmed his foe. “Come on, Lute,” she said, helping the other woman up. “Let’s find Sister Natasha.”

           Lute nodded and winced in response.

* * *

           Vanessa hadn’t wanted to wrap a cloth around Lute’s arm, for fear of damaging it further by mistake. Still, she could see the mage’s bone through the mess of her limb’s tissues. _I’ll distract her somehow._ “So, you called me ‘Titanessa’ a few weeks ago…And you said that you read a book with a character with that name as a child. Have you always read so much?”

           “Yes. My grandmother is the cook at the abbey in Za’ha Woods, and once my parents left on their journey, she took me under her wing. I would fetch ingredients for her, and she would give me a little extra money for books…Naturally, I also made use of the abbey’s library.”

            They were almost there when Vanessa spotted Princess Eirika and Princess Tana supporting a limping Prince Innes. She called out to them. “Your Highness?”

            The trio paused and turned.

            “Hello, Vanessa. I just have a bit of a sore ankle-"

            “‘A sore ankle?’ It’s probably sprained,” said Tana, exasperated.

            “I wasn’t aware that you are a healer, Tana.”

            He looked no worse than Lute did, though, so that was a relief. “We’re heading to the healer’s tent as well. Is there anything I can get for you, Prince?”

            Prince Innes shook his head. “No thank you, Vanessa.”

            “I rather hate to interrupt,” said Lute, “but in order to avoid infection, we should proceed to the tent.”

            “Right,” responded Vanessa. Prince Innes was in capable hands, but Lute needed her aid.

* * *

             When Vanessa awoke in the healer’s tent, curled by Lute’s side, the sage was sitting up with a book on her lap and a stone in one hand. She smiled slightly when she noticed Vanessa was alert. “Good morning. Artur happened to receive this wyvernstone from Genarog, and I thought I’d compare it with these plates. Genarog’s particular sample lacks the curve often seen in stone of his species. I wonder if perhaps he was raised with another kind of dragon?”

             “I guess you’re feeling better, then.”

             “Naturally. I possess a remarkable constitution that allows me to recover quickly from injuries.” She stared at the stone in her hand. “Unfortunately, even prodigies such as myself make errors in battle. Such is the human condition, but…I wanted to thank you for pulling me from the battlefield. You were rather quick on your feet. I had underestimated you.”

             “Thank you. I think.”

“You think?” Lute raised an eyebrow. “I certainly hope that you _are_ grateful.”

            She wanted to discuss this now? “Well, Lute, sometimes it is difficult to determine if you’re being forthright.”

            “Really? I always seek to be honest in my interactions with others.”

            “It’s difficult to explain.”

            “Well, I’m one for explanations, and I will not be leaving this tent any time soon.” Lute put her book down.

            Vanessa sighed. “Sometimes, Lute, you come across as condescending.”

            Lute frowned. “I do? But I am simply trying to impart my knowledge with others and make known my talents.”

            “And we appreciate it! It just feels like you put yourself on a pedestal at times.”

            Surely that had done it. But Lute looked thoughtful. “Hm. So I should act subservient?”

            “Of course not! Maybe try talking…talking like we are now.”

            “Communication certainly is important. Very well.” Lute nodded. “I’ll try it.”

* * *

            Naturally, Vanessa would be the one with trouble communicating. As embarrassing as it was to speak up, though, it would be worse to not do so and to lose Lute forever.

            _Well, here goes nothing._ “Lute, what are your plans for when you return home?”

            “Plans? Well, I would like to continue my studies. Why do you ask?”

            “We’ve talked about how we feel about each other, right?”

            Lute nodded.

            “I wanted to ask you if you would come home with me.”

            “To stay?”

            “It doesn’t have to be! I mean, unless you want to…”

            “At the very least, you must come with me to Za’ha Woods to meet my grandmother.”

            “I take that as a yes?” Vanessa’s heartbeat quickened.

            “Certainly, Vanessa.”

            Forde grinned when he saw the two women walk into the courtyard together. “I see you found yourself a stick-in-the-mud after all, Vanessa!”

            Lute seemed oblivious to the comment, fortunately.

            Vanessa, however, gave him a weak smile. “I guess some things never change. You’re still saying the same old things to me…”

            He shrugged. “Hey, I have a stick-in-the-mud of my own.” He gestured towards Kyle; the green-haired knight was loading crates onto a cart.

            “You and Kyle?” Vanessa blinked. “I wouldn’t have guessed in a million years, for what it’s worth.”

            “Well, opposites attract and all that.”

 


End file.
